BRYN EYRE, Borough of New Morgan, Berks County, PA

Arcadia is pleased to announce that Bryn Eyre has been recognized by the Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance jury as a good example of smart growth development in the region.

Bryn Eyre will be a mixed-use “new urbanist” town located on a 2,582-acre brownfields site directly adjacent to the Morgantown interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The land, identified in the Berks County 2020 Plan as the largest growth area for new development, will encompass 12,500 residential units, ranging from single-family homes and townhomes to duplexes, twins, and condominium units; 3 elementary schools and a middle school; 3.2 million square feet of office space; 1.5 million square feet of retail space; and 600,000 square feet of light industrial space. Approximately 935 acres of the site will be undeveloped and left as open space, including a 150-acre park serving the entire region and preservation of a 130-acre lake. Construction could start in late 2006.

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance (DVSGA), a new non-profit collaboration of more than 100 government, private sector and non-profit organizations in the tri-state region, recognizes development proposals that comply with established smart growth criteria. Projects that receive DVSGA recognition are those that will foster regional growth and redevelopment in a manner that achieves important economic, environmental and quality of life objectives. By highlighting the potential of smart growth projects to add value to the region, the DVSGA hopes to encourage developers, business organizations, citizen groups and elected officials to strive for smart growth solutions.

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One of the earliest and strongest advocates of downtown Albuquerque redevelopment, Smart Growth and New Urbanism, real-estate investor and land-use strategist Christopher Leinberger will leave the city in July to become a visiting fellow with the prestigious Brookings Institution in the nation’s capital and a faculty member at the University of Michigan, says an Albuquerque Tribune editorial, hailing his significant role in the city’s history.

A founder and head of the public-private Historic District Improvement Co., which has spurred many downtown commercial, residential and entertainment projects, the editorial notes, Leinberger has successfully promoted downtown as ”a lucrative market for a mixture of lively ventures that appeal to a rising ‘creative class’ and others who want the option of living in a real urban environment.”

Welcoming his promise to remain active in the Historic District Improvement Co., the editorial points out that his downtown redevelopment idea ”dovetails perfectly with efforts to make the city grow more efficiently, by filling in the inner city, rather than allowing it to wither and die.” — Albuquerque Tribune 6/1/2005

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Resource(s): www.abqtrib.com/

LOWER MORELAND TOWNSHIP, Montgomery County, Pa.

Arcadia Land Company is pleased to announce the groundbreaking of homes and shops at Woodmont.

Woodmont is inspired by our area’s most admired communities: Doylestown, New Hope, Chestnut Hill, and Wayne.  At Woodmont, neighbors will congregate on front porches, take walks through old growth woodlands, and enjoy morning coffee from the Woodmont corner store.

Three builders have been selected for Woodmont to ensure a variety of architectural styles, just like the best older communities of our region.  Pulte Homes, the Gigliotti Group and Masterpiece Homes have been chosen because of their reputation for quality and their commitment to fulfilling our vision of Woodmont.

Homes are now selling so please contact the builders directly for information on the homes available at Woodmont.

SADSBURY PARK, Sadsbury Township, Chester County, Pa.

Arcadia is pleased to announce that Sadsbury Park has been recognized by the Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance jury as a good example of smart growth development in the region. It is the first Greenfield proposal to receive this honor.

“Sadsbury Park reflects the criteria for true smart growth – location; density, design and diversity of uses; transportation and accessibility; environmental issues; and community assets and participation,” said John B. Rosenthal, DVSGA Jury Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Pennrose Properties.

Sadsbury Park is a Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) proposed for a parcel within walking distance of historic Sadsburyville, at the intersection of Old Wilmington Road and Lincoln Highway (Business Route 30) west of Coatesville. The project will encompass 461 homes – a mix of 174 rear-access single-family detached; 78 front-access single-family detached; 140 rear-access townhomes, and 69 multi-family homes, with a total net density of 6 units per acre. The TND features a grid street system, homes with garages in the back, a sidewalk and trail system, and creatively-designed opened spaces for recreation. Housing prices are expected to be among the most affordable in Chester County. The developer is Arcadia Land Company.

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance (DVSGA), a new non-profit collaboration of more than 100 government, private sector and non-profit organizations in the tri-state region, recognizes development proposals that comply with established smart growth criteria. Projects that receive DVSGA recognition are those that will foster regional growth and redevelopment in a manner that achieves important economic, environmental and quality of life objectives. By highlighting the potential of smart growth projects to add value to the region, the DVSGA hopes to encourage developers, business organizations, citizen groups and elected officials to strive for smart growth solutions.

WASHINGTON — Urban Land Institute (ULI) member Christopher B. Leinberger, managing partner of the Arcadia Land Company in Albuquerque, N.M., has received the institute’s 2003 Apgar Award for best article in Urban Land magazine, published monthly by ULI. Leinberger is also managing partner of Robert Charles Lesser and Co., the nation’s largest independent real estate consulting firm with offices nationwide.

The Apgar Award was created in 1991 through a gift from Mahlon Apgar IV, director of The Boston Consulting Group in Baltimore. It recognizes writing in the magazine that best contributes to the principles of excellence in land use, development and management as reflected in ULI’s mission of promoting leadership in responsible land use.

Leinberger received the award for his article, “Building for the Long Term,” which appeared in the November/December 2003 issue of Urban Land. In the piece, he examines the process of financing real estate developments within the context of building projects that are time-consuming and complex, but ultimately more sustainable, opposed to projects that are simpler and quicker, but which lack character and longevity.

“The conventional financing approach is predicated on building according to well-understood formulas that provide, first and foremost, stand-alone, single-uses with high visibility and access by car…These are the forces that lead to the ‘could by anywhere’ nature of America’s built environment and that encourage developers generally to build and flip projects within a few years of construction,” Leinberger wrote. “Building for the long term requires an understanding of how buildings were built before discounted cash flow, single-use zoning, and automobile-oriented sprawl began to dominate real estate development.”

In the article, Leinberger used his development experience in the revitalization of downtown Albuquerque as an example of building for the long term. His company has $200 million in their development pipeline ($60 million of which is built, under construction or about to start construction), including a 14-screen movie theatre, offices, retail, restaurants, a 10,000-seat arena, and for-sale and rental residential units. National Public Radio has calledAlbuquerque “the fastest downtown turnaround in the country.”

Over the years, Leinberger has contributed several articles to Urban Land on improving growth and development patterns throughout urban areas; he also wrote a chapter on the connection between sustainability and economic development for ULI’s publication, The Practice of Sustainable Development. He is a nationally renowned land use strategist and developer combining business realities with social and environmental objectives to make progressive development profitable. He also won the Apgar Award in 1995, making him the only person to win the award twice.

Arcadia Land Company, which develops New Urbanism communities, is involved in development projects inIndependence, Mo.; Chester County, Pa.; Montgomery County, Pa.; and Seaside, Fla., a community widely considered as a model of New Urbanism and a ULI 2003 Award for Excellence winner.

“I am always pleased to write for a magazine like Urban Land. It allows me to examine the major issues affecting the built environment in this country and around the world. Combining on-the-ground financing, construction, marketing and development experience with a theoretical perspective helps determine how we can build sustainable places to live, work and play,” Leinberger said.